Monday, June 01, 2009

Google Authority Basics

Many internet marketers believe Google page rank is the key to success, but the truth of the matter is that it is only one of many ways to boost your search results. So exactly how do you grow your Google authority? Let's take a look.

Authority essentially means that people want to know what you have to say and trust your insight into the industry of which you are writing about. Because Google trusts what its users are doing, good user authority equals good Google authority. Google considers all of the elements of your website including quality and quantity of links, traffic, and the domain, then grades it on a scale of of how much authority it has. Of course, the more authority you have, the better your page will rank.

So how does Google know who to trust? One of the most important indicators is who is linking to your site. Supposedly, Google has an inside list of trusted websites such as Wikipedia that will automatically appear at the top of search results without much effort. Becoming one of those trusted sites is not easy and often impossible but if one of those websites links to your site, you will certainly see a boost in your search engine ranking. Unfortunately, only Google insiders know exactly how this is calculated, but it is not impossible to make some educated guesses.

There are many ways to ruin your own site's trust and it is possible for your competitors to ruin it for you. Allowing your site to evolve organically is key. Here are a few ways to prevent that:

1. Do not buy links. This is a sure way to not last long in the search engine and some websites are so bad to Google that a purchase can ruin you over night.

2. Watch who your neighbors are. If your links can even be associated with some of those bad websites, don't expect positive results.

3. Don't allow comment spam or if you do, remove it immediately before it can be indexed.

4. Mind your growth. If a brand new site has 10,000 visitors in less than one day, something is usually out of the ordinary and Google will take note. Even if it happens in a very innocent way, you probably won't be penalized but be sure, Google will take notice.

5. Are your links just from your other websites or are they appearing because people like your content? If all of your links are from the same type of websites created by the same groups of people, Google will take notice.

6. Poor content. Are you duplicating content, spamming, or just posting enough to get by? Google only wants to promote quality and will use human checkers and watch customer reactions to get it. If you're not putting it out there, don't expect good results.

So now that you know what not to do, what should you do to improve your Google trust and see to that your website grows naturally?

1. Traffic - there are three main things to remember about your website's traffic: get people to visit your site, allow your site's traffic to grow naturally, and try to maintain consistent traffic.

2. Use Links - take advantage of directories, websites with great Google authority (these includes anything from old and new media websites, social voting and news websites, social networking sites, and companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Oracle), and domains such as .edu and .gov that aren't quite as easy to obtain. There are other things to keep in mind when thinking about links such as theme, strength, diversity, age, and location of the linking sites.

3. Domain - something as simple as a domain can automatically grab Google's attention. The more trusted domains usually include older, consistent domains, TLD domains such as .edu and .gov that require you to prove your identity, how long has your domain been registered, and what the real details are of your registration.

4. Your website - is the content high quality and original? Do you have a privacy policy? Could the average user take advantage of your website? Is it easy to navigate? Does it take a long time to load? Do people spend long amounts of time on your site?

While all of these factors play into your Google Authority, the two key things to remember are to allow your site to grow naturally and be sure that your site contains only top-quality content. Once you've mastered these goals, the little things can be fixed and tweaked until you are well on your way to achieving higher search engine ranks than ever before.